Despite rising flood waters that forced organizers to run all four races on Saturday, the 2013 UCI Cyclocross World Championships played out with few surprises. The Dutch dominated the junior Men, under-23 men, and elite women’s categories, while a Belgian won the elite men’s event.

JUNIORSThe day began with the junior race and another incredible performance by the defending world champion, Mathieu Van der Poel. Undefeated this season, the young Dutchman surged out of the starting grid and quickly established a lead he would not relinquish. He won his second title by almost a minute over his teammate, Martin Budding. Adam Toupalik of the Czech Republic finished third.

The home fans were hopeful that eight-time national champion Logan Owen would challenge Van der Poel for the victory, or at least a spot on the podium. Unfortunately, a poor start put the American at a disadvantage early and despite spending most of the day in contention for a bronze medal, he managed only fourth. It was a good result for an American, but a disappointment for one as accomplished as Owen.

ELITE WOMEN
The women were up next, and again the United States’ best hope for a high finish struggled with bad luck early as Katie Compton suffered a mechanical in the opening lap. "The thought of not winning a medal was heartbreaking," said Compton. "There was no way in hell that was going to happen."

By the time Compton received a new bike, the Netherlands’ Marianne Vos was already on her way to a sixth world cyclocross title. Her hopes of a gold medal dashed, Compton relaxed and rode her own race, picking off riders one by one to win her third silver medal.

Vos finished 1:34 ahead of Compton, but took nothing for granted. "The pressure every year gets higher because everybody expects me to win," said Vos. "I was nervous at the start." She also gave credit to the crowd. "The Americans were really cool," she said. "They cheered for me too."

U23 MEN
The day’s penultimate event was the under-23 men, another race that promised a showdown between the Netherlands and Belgium. World Cup-winner Wietse Bosmans and former world U23 silver medalist Mike Theunissen quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field, until a Theunissen crash left Bosmans alone off the front. But the crash served as a wake-up call for Theunissen. The Dutchman surged back to the front, recording the fastest lap of the race to rejoin Bosmans before dropping the Belgian at the beginning of the final lap.

Theunissen won his first world championship and the Netherlands’ third of the day, while Bosmans finished as runner-up for the second year in row. Young Belgian Wout Van Aert finished third in his first world championship as an under-23 rider. He’ll have Van der Poel to contend with next year.

ELITE MEN
By the end of the under-23 race, the sky grew cloudy and light snow began to fall, creating the perfect setting for a classic battle in the elite men’s race. After a tense start, Martin Bina of the Czech Republic and France’s Francois Mourey challenged the mighty Belgians early. But as first Bina and then Mourey began to fade, a powerful chase group patiently began to organize.

"We know Mourey is a strong rider, but he makes a lot of mistakes," said Belgian ’cross star Sven Nys.

Once Mourey was finally caught, Nys and Vantornout showed themselves to be the day’s strongest riders. Pulling away from the field, they spent the rest of race marking one another closely while the battle for third waged behind them. The two traded the lead, then Vantornout caught his pedal on a fence with a half a lap to go, giving Nys the gap he needed to take his second world title. Lars Van der Haar finished third to give the Netherlands its fifth medal of the day.

As someone who has worked closely with the UCI’s cyclocross commission in its attempts to increase the sport’s fan base, Nys was proud to win the first World Championship held outside of Europe.

"To win here is even maybe more special than to win in my own country," he said. "The respect I got from everybody over here helped me a lot."